Identification of Bacteria and Fungi in Various Types of Multi-Use Facilities in Bucheon, South Korea

Abstract

The recent sequential appearance of infectious pathogens has caused ongoing social and economic damage. Despite the very high potential for pathogen transmission within indoor multi-use facilities, there are insufficient measures for the systematic analysis, diagnosis, and reduction in such transmission. Although real-time environmental information is available for pollutants such as particulate matter, carbon dioxide, and nitrogen dioxide in South Korea, an automatic network for the real-time measurements of harmful microorganisms has not yet been established. Therefore, in this study, we analyzed the concentrations of bacteria and fungi in different types of multiple-use facilities in Bucheon, South Korea, using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method. All multi-use facilities in the region were classified into six types: facilities for pollution-sensitive groups (e.g., children or the elderly) and transportation-related, public transportation, temperature-controlled, food preparation, and other facilities. Next, the importance of each facility type in terms of bacterial and fungal abundance was evaluated using the AHP method, according to criteria selected using the AHP method. The highest importance was assigned to multi-use facilities for air-pollution-sensitive groups, which were associated with higher user density and more confirmed cases of COVID-19; the second-highest importance was assigned to public-transportation facilities. Bacteria detected at representative multi-use facilities were identified using 16S rRNA sequencing and included the human pathogens Bacillus anthracis, Bacillus cereus, Pseudomonas fluorescens, Erwinia billingiae, and Enterobacter cloacae. This study is the first to measure monthly and seasonal concentrations of bacteria and fungi at 30 multi-use facilities in Bucheon. The results of this study will be useful for designing systematic measures for the control of infectious bacteria and fungi in various types of multi-use facilities, according to their specific characteristics.